The scheduled completion date for the TransCanada pipeline is 2018. That's assuming they get Federal approval, which they don't have yet. (Of course, if they don't get it, they still get millions of dollars from the Alaskan government, so I don't know if they're in a hurry.) Federal approval may not be forthcoming, as the TransCanada proposal provides that the U.S. government guarantee revenues if initial gas production does not meet expectations--a guarantee that might be in the billions. Additionally, TransCanada has yet to sign any contracts with natural gas producers to actually have something to transport on the line. Right now this is shaping up to be quite the boondoggle.

Keep it up. At this rate you might even convince some of us by the 2016 elections. Especially if Palin is re-elected Governor, and construction has been completed on the pipeline.

I guess I'm not a conservative if that's what David Brooks is. I think I am a classical liberal, but the word liberal now has a meaning 180 degrees out of phase with the old definition. To whatever extent I like Sarah Palin it has to do with her being almost the complete opposite of what John McCain and Barrack Obama are in many respects.

But in what way? If you look at her record, she's no classical liberal. The town of Wasilla had to hire a City Manager because she wasn't doing the work she was supposed to be doing--this in a town too small to have a Fire Department, mind you. I just don't get it. Her years as Mayor left Wasilla in debt and with a boondoggle of a sports complex that she didn't get proper title for the land for. Her legacy as governor in her less than 2 years of service is a ballooning budget and oil taxes so high that the major oil companies ended up CANCELLING drilling projects there. The pipeline she's so proud of commits millions of dollars of state money to TransCanada EVEN IF THE PIPELINE DOESN'T GET BUILT.

What's good about her record? Almost nothing, as far as I can tell. She blew the whistle on some corruption, but only when it was politically convenient for her. Just as political convenience didn't stop her from working to re-elect Ted Stevens.

Now, where did I claim that I know her at all?

You don't. Not enough to say she's dumb, and not enough to say she's smart. Unless one of you is Todd or something ;-)

If that's the true context, it strikes me as a mangled phrase in league with whether Israel is next door to Iran or there is more than one President on a dollar bill.

Was she ever asked about Africa in any debate? Is that a more significant problem?

As to Sarah Palin's interview problems, now that the campaign handlers are out of the picture she doesn't seem to be having the same problems at all with a great deal of exposure. Coincidence? Sometimes too much information and too much control can make someone appear to be something they are not.

I guess I'm not a conservative if that's what David Brooks is. I think I am a classical liberal, but the word liberal now has a meaning 180 degrees out of phase with the old definition. To whatever extent I like Sarah Palin it has to do with her being almost the complete opposite of what John McCain and Barrack Obama are in many respects. I don't have to think that Sarah Palin was a great candidate to believe we would have been better off with her than with any of senators McCain, Obama or Biden, but YMMV.

Tree stump.

PP... indeed.

And what AK said.

I don't think that Sarah Palin is a moron. I just think that she didn't have a very good knowledge base from which to launch a vice-presidential run.

Frankly, had her national debut come in 2016, when she'd finished her term as governor, then spent some time in the Senate (where I've no doubt she will end up), she would have acquitted herself well in these interviews. As it stands, though, her interview performance went beyond a few verbal flubs and into downright incoherence. She simply wasn't ready yet to play the game on a national level. Not for lack of smarts, but merely a lack of preparedness.

However, as I have said here and elsewhere, I think that she has a pretty lousy record from a conservative point of view, and so I am baffled that conservatives seem to be so crazy about her.

"In fairness to Obama, while there are 50 states, there were also 57 Democratic primaries. Easy slip of the tongue there, since he was almost certainly thinking of the primary race in terms of total number of contests."

The sort of "top of mind" error anyone could easily make, right? Just sort of slipped out because of his mental focus at that particular moment. I understand.

Speaking of "top of mind" errors....I'm sure his reference to "my Muslim faith" in his interview with Georgie Stepho had absolutely nothing to do with what was "top of mind." Right?

Relax, Pavlovians.........its a wisecrack.

Hey, and my map only has 50 states. What's up with that?

In fairness to Obama, while there are 50 states, there were also 57 Democratic primaries. Easy slip of the tongue there, since he was almost certainly thinking of the primary race in terms of total number of contests.